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If you have your Pasadena home for sale, your real estate agent most likely suggested that you get a Termite Inspection done as soon as possible. I usually order a termite inspection the first week of all my home listings.

The reason for that is that in Pasadena and surrounding cities, it is customary for the seller to pay for the Termite inspection and perform some of the work identified in the termite report. More on the type of work that a Pasadena seller is usually responsible for in tomorrow's post. Since we live in Southern California, these strange little insects are happily feasting on all the wood that is used in home constructions and controlling termite activity is part of every day life.

My termite company of choice is Del Rio Termite and Pest Control. I've worked with the owner Fernando Gonzalez for many years now and have not been disappointed. Not only is he very reasonable and excellent at what he does, but he is always willing to come out for reinspections and to address any issues that might arise for his customers.

I asked Fernando to explain to us what he usually does during a termite inspection. Below, you will find a very short (less than 2 minutes) video as well as my transcription of the process.

What are the steps of a termite inspection?

When we get to the property, we pretty much check the entire exterior - roof rafters, eaves, and anything that the termites can pretty much feast on... not just termites, but any wood destroying organism. We walk around with a little device that we probe or we tap with so that we can test the strength of the wood so we know any termite damage, any dry rot, any water damage...

Once we're through with the exterior, we'll take a walk on the inside and we look at all the window sills, wood floors, anything that the termite can feast on. We also check the attic. We take our ladder and go up to the attic and check all accessible areas. We check for any termite droppings, any termites that have been swarming, any termite wings.

Once we're done with the attic, we'll check the stall shower. We'll run a bucket to see if the shower is leaking or not. Once we're underneath the house, we check around, we put our suits on... crawl and check for any subterranean termites, which are termites that come from underneath the ground... for any termite debris and for any termite droppings as well. Then we also check if that shower that we tested to see if there was any leaking, any rot, any fungus or wood destroying organisms.

And... pretty much... that's a termite inspection.

Stay tuned for more answers to the most common termite inspection questions over the next few days. In the meantime, if there's a specific question that you'd like to ask Fernando, leave it in the comments and I'll make sure that we get it answered.

If you'd like Fernando to come out and inspect your home, please give him a call at 626-201-9853. And, if you're thinking of selling your home and need a consultation with a real estate agent, give me a call at 626-629-8439.